Questions about WW2

[stfx_monty]

Hey,

I have been reading the forum for a few months, but I had some questions that need answering, so I joined up. A pleasure to be part of such esteemed company.

These questions all relate to Canada in World War II, (background for a paper)

What would the role of a bridage commander consist of?
What would his second in command have been responsible for?
What was the role of a company commander?
What was the average number of people in a company, (recommended strength)?

I appreciate the answers. If anyone has any idea where I could find training info for small-mid level unit commanders (Majors, Lt Colonel's) I would be thankful.

 

[pbi]

What would the role of a bridage commander consist of?

Most brigade commanders were subordinates of a division commander. A division consisted (more or less...) of three brigades and supporting troops. A brigade normally consisted of three units, called "battalions" if they were Infantry, and normally "Regiments" for Armour or Artillery, plus some supporting elements. A few brigade commanders led independent brigades, such as Army Tank Brigades, which answered directky to Corps or Army HQ. Put very simply, the job of the brigade commander was to translate the division commander's intent (expressed through written or oral orders) into combat action by his own battalions and any supporting elements the division commander gave him to carry out his mission;

What would his second in command have been responsible for?

I am not sure if Canadian brigades in WWII actually had 2ICs, or if this devolved on to the Brigade Major or one of the unit COs. To this day, Canadian Regular Army Bdes (for some reason) do not have Deputy Commanders, although every other level of command in the Army does. Typically, a second in command understudies the commander in order to take over in an emergency, and apart from that normally focuses on some aspects of operations or administration, as the commander decides.

What was the role of a company commander?

It would depend on the branch of service, but let's take an Infantry rifle company commander. He was responsible to lead a rifle company of three rifle platoons and a small company HQ, as part of an infantry battalion that consisted of several such companies, a battalion headquarters and a support company. Much like the brigade commander, he was responsible to translate the battalion commander's intent into combat action by his company and any supporting elements assigned to him by the battalion commander.

What was the average number of people in a company, (recommended strength)?

This figure doesn't really mean much except as an indicator, because no military unit is ever at its "official" strength for very long: casualties, taskings, courses, leave and shortage of replacements usually reduce combat organizations pretty quickly. In Italy, Canadian Inf battalions at one point (IIRC) were running at about 50% strength. I would guess that the official strength was probably around 120, with most companies probably functioning in the 60-100 man range (just a guess-I'm sure there are better informed people who can give you a precise answer. Cheers.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

There is a complete breakdown of an infantry company at http://members.shaw.ca/calgaryhighlanders/ - check the left hand frame for links to the appropriate pages.  pbi is correct - roughly 120 men in a company.

Brigades in Canada were loosely organized, but the structure overseas was quite rigid.

An Infantry Brigade in an infantry division or armoured division had three rifle battalions.  Also attached were usually (but unofficially) a field artillery regiment, a field ambulance, possibly a field engineer company - but these were really considered divisional assets.  Certainly the infantry battalion would have an "arty rep" from the field artillery accompany it into action, acting as FOO (Forward Observation Officer).

An Armoured Brigade in an armoured division had three armoured regiments, and a motor battalion (this was an infantry battalion mounted in armoured trucks).

Armoured divisions, by 1943, had one armoured brigade and an infantry brigade.  Infantry divisions had three infantry brigades.  Precise orders of battle for the divisions can be found at www.canadiansoldiers.com - again, by checking the left hand frame.

There are some notes on battalion commanders there also, under Commanders, but you didn't ask about them so they may well be useless to you.

 

[stfx_monty]

Thanks a lot for the answers pbi and Michael. I have one more follow up question.

What responsability would a battalion commander have for logistical and medical problems?

The links were very helpful. Here's to finishing on time.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Thanks a lot for the answers pbi and Michael. I have one more follow up question.

What responsability would a battalion commander have for logistical and medical problems?

The links were very helpful. Here's to finishing on time.

pbi definitely has more insight into this than I do, but my impression is that the battalion commander is like the captain of a ship at sea - and has ultimate reponsibility for everything going on under his command.  Within the battalion (in WW II), he would have a Medical Officer, a medical sergeant, a batman (personal orderly to the MO), driver, and orderly, as well as 20 stretcher bearers.  This Medical Section would, in action, set up the Regimental Aid Post (RAP) and provide first aid to injured soldiers, as well as possibly segregating combat exhaustion cases from the rifle companies.  Their job was to patch up soldiers very quickly and pass them up the medical chain to, I believe, a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS), farther from the front - from there they would go further back to hospitals, etc.  In action, I suspect the MO (soemtimes assisted by the Regimental padre) had pretty much carte blanche to run his section and the CO would probably not think too much about it.  Before a battle, he would need - with the RSM - to plan where casualty collection points would be, where the RAP was, and need to include in his orders to his company commanders this information.

Logistics also fell to the RSM, who along with the Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant (RQMS) would plan such things as ammunition, fuel, water points, from which the company sergeant majors and company quartermasters sergeants (CSM and CQMS repsectively) would draw supplies for their troops.  The CO would be ultimately responsible, but the NCOs would do the planning and carrying out of replenishment during action.  There was also a Quartermaster - a captain I believe - who was another level in the chain of command between the CO and the NCOs carrying out the orders.  I suspect the CO would let the QM handle most of the thought processes behind planning out resupply missions.  In Italy, this sometimes involved arranging for mules to transport ammunition etc. up to the front as the terrain dictated this - in other areas, they would perhaps need to use armoured carriers rather than trucks, etc.  Deciding what the Carrier Platoon would do in a given battle may have been one of those logistics decisions the CO had to make.

This is just my impression from my reading and reserve field exercises, I certainly am open to correction.  I suggest the book DUFFY'S REGIMENT, a biography of Angus Duffy,the RSM of the Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment in WW II (Farley Mowat's old outfit), as he discusses some of these issues in a bit of detail.  The regimental history of the Seaforth Highlanders by Reginald Roy is also good for details such as that.

 

[pbi]

I think Michael has covered it pretty well. There would also be a Motor Transport Officer (MTO) looking after the battalion's trucks, an Ordnance Officer and maybe a few technicians to look after weapons, and probably a Light Aid Detatchment (RCEME) attached to the battalion to provide for its vehicle maintenance and recovery requirements

 

[pbi]

I think Michael has covered it pretty well. There would also be a Motor Transport Officer (TO) looking after the battalion's trucks, an Ordnance Officer and maybe a few technicians to look after weapons, and probably a Light Aid Detatchment (RCEME) attached to the battalion to provide for its vehicle maintenance and recovery requirements. Cheers.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Maybe one other thing I can add is that the written orders for an operation may have been drafted by the Operations Officer, Adjutant, or some other officer at Battalion Headquarters rather than penned by the CO himself - however, I would expect the order would be in his name and he would have responsibility for carrying the orders out, as well as briefing his men, and his brigade commander, as to how he was running his operation?